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General Surgery Residency Global Surgery Rotation

Global Surgery Rotation

Approved by the ACGME and ABS in 2023, our program will begin an elective rotation at Hospital Santo Tomas in Panama City, Panama in the Spring of 2024! This is designed to be a PGY4 rotation.

Type of Center/Scope of Practice

Hospital Santo Tomás is the largest governmental, and the only 3rd level Hospital (the most complex), of the country. It is affiliated with Universidad de Panamá and, as the top-level hospital of Ministry of Health of the country, it is:

  • The only hospital with all medical and surgical specialties and subspecialties
  • A teaching hospital for all universities (public and private)
  • A teaching hospital for first year interns
  • One of the few teaching hospitals with residents and fellows
  • The only Panamanian Hospital (private or public) with a Trauma Service and Burn Unit

Operative Volume and Outpatient Experience

The hospital serves the adult population (14 years and up) and it has 734 beds, 24 Operating Rooms, 2 Angiographic Suits.

 

The Trauma Service has 35 beds with approximately 590 admissions per year:

  • 52% of patients have ISS of 8 or greater (moderate to severe trauma)
  • 47% of patients with abdominal trauma require operative management
  • A teaching hospital for first year interns
  • 63% have penetrating Injuries, of which: 57% are gunshot wounds and 54% have more than one anatomical area affected

 

The general surgery service performs about 1250 elective and 1500 emergent surgeries annually

 

The rotating resident will have the opportunity to participate in the daily activities of the Trauma Service with the supervision of an Attending, for example:

  • Evaluation and Management of Patients in the Emergency Room
  • Emergency Surgeries (e.g., laparotomies, pericardial windows, thoracotomies, neck explorations)
  • Scheduled Surgeries (e.g. enterostomy closures, Abdominal Wall Reconstructions)
  • Bedside procedures (Percutaneous tracheostomy, Endoscopic Gastrostomy, Central Venous Access, Ultrasonography, Focused Cardiac Ultrasound)
  • Postoperative Management
  • Ventilation Management